Gushanas, Christina Marie (2020-07). Interventions That Promote Self-Determination for Students With or At-Risk For Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in School Settings: A Quality Review and Meta-Analysis of the Single Case Literature. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
Self-Determination has been proven to increase positive outcomes for students with disabilities. Students with and at-risk for emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) have the poorest outcomes among all students with disabilities. Previous literature has identified 12 elements, which can be implemented as interventions to promote self-determination. This meta-analysis explores interventions that promote self-determination for students with and at-risk for EBD through the following research questions: (a) What are the characteristics of SCR studies, published through March 2019, that promote self-determination for students with or at-risk of EBD in a school setting?, (b) How do the identified SCR studies describe the participants, settings, measures, research designs, and primary interventions?, (c) What self-determination elements (Wehmeyer, 1997) are incorporated within the interventions?, (d) What is the quality of the identified SCR studies according to the What Works Clearinghouse Design Standards?, (e) What is the overall effect of interventions that promote self-determination for students with or at-risk of EBD in a school setting?, and (f) What are the effects of potential moderating variables among interventions that promote self-determination for students with or at-risk of EBD in a school setting? Studies that promote self-determination for students with and at-risk for emotional behavioral disorder (EBD) were identified using a comprehensive search of the literature. A coding system was developed and used to identify study characteristics. The quality of each included study was determined using the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Design Standards. Data were extracted from the single case research design graphs within each study and then analyzed using the effect size estimate Baseline Corrected Tau. Variables were identified to moderate the effectiveness of the interventions. Twenty-nine studies met WWC Design Standards Without Reservations or WWC Design Standards With Reservations, and were included in this meta-analysis. Overall effect size estimates reveal a score of 0.59 (confidence intervals at 95% = 0.55, 0.63; p < 0.001). Based on the findings of this meta-analysis, interventions that promote self-determination for students with or at-risk for EBD is most effective (has larger effect sizes) when: (a) the participant is females, (b) the dependent variable measures academic skills, (c) intervention is implemented within a general education setting, (d) the instructional format of the intervention is one-on-on instruction, (e) the teacher implements the intervention, and (f) goal setting and attainment is incorporated into the primary intervention. Implications for practice, limitations to the study, and recommendations for future research are presented. Overall, this study demonstrates that promoting self-determination improves educational and academic outcomes for students with and at-risk of EBD in kindergarten through high school settings. Furthermore, interventions that promote self-determination build readiness skills for postsecondary employment, training, and education, that could lead to more positive postsecondary opportunities for students with and at-risk for EBD.
